Nick Panes joins HKA as investigations partner
Global risk and dispute resolution consultancy HKA has announced a significant hire in its forensic accounting and commercial damages practice. Nick Panes joins the firm as a partner, and will focus on investigative, political risk, business intelligence, and regulatory compliance assignments.
Headquartered in the UK, HKA works with government agencies, local authorities, contractors, legal firms, and other professional service providers, as well as owners and operators, financial institutions and insurers. With more than 500 expert witnesses, HKA now has in excess of 500 advisors and consultants – across more than 40 offices in 18 countries – with the skills and experience that are essential to get to the heart of even the most complex issues.
As HKA looks to boost its forensic accounting and commercial damages (FACD) wing, Nick Panes joins its London office. He will now work alongside the FACD team to support client delivery across the EMEA region.
Amanda Clack – a partner and regional CEO for EMEA at HKA, said, “I am thrilled to welcome Nick to our EMEA partner team as he brings a wealth of experience and a highly regarded reputation in investigations from around the world to our FACD offering. Collectively having acted on over $300 billion worth of cases, our FACD practice continues to go from strength to strength globally and Nick will be instrumental as part of this strategic growth strategy.”
Panes has worked across the full spectrum of projects, from strategic advisory work to tactical support. A former senior partner at Control Risks Group, his career split between investigations, post-event problem-solving, and risk management consultancy across a wide range of sectors and geographies, including postings in Mexico City, New Delhi, Sydney and London. Previous projects have included designing and implementing risk management systems across multiple industries, conducting and managing complex and sensitive investigative matters on behalf of clients, and the design and implementation of pre-transaction due diligence and anti-corruption risk assessment tools to bolster organisational resilience.
With two decades of experience at his disposal, Panes also has extensive experience in strategic business intelligence and stakeholder mapping for energy and infrastructure projects in Africa, Latin America and South Asia, asset-tracing and recovery assignments across multiple jurisdictions, fraud and corruption risk assessments. He was even was ranked in the political risk category by Chambers & Partners in the organisation’s Crisis & Risk Management Guide in 2021 and 2022.
Speaking on his new role, Panes added, “I am delighted to be joining HKA and the FACD team at an exciting time in the firm’s growth story. I very much look forward to working with colleagues across the group to support their existing teams, bring additional capabilities and generate new opportunities.”